Non-crime incidents account for 84% of all incoming calls to command and control centres. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons/West Midlands Police from West Midlands. Some rights reserved.
Police numbers and funding have emerged as a general election issue this week thanks largely to a clumsy and muddled radio interview from shadow Home Secretary, Diane Abbott. Last week, Labour pledged to put 10,000 more "police on the streets" with Jeremy Corbyn emphasising the need for "uniformed officers being visible, local and accessible". In media interviews, Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, defended cuts to police numbers and insisted "a Conservative budget will put security first and what we’ve seen in recent years is a protected police budget".
After a period of unprecedented growth, the recent fall in police numbers since 2010 still leaves workforce numbers at historically high levels. Yet, police forces across the country report they are stretched to the limit by public demand. In 2015 the Police Federation launched the #CutsHaveConsequences campaign, highlighting what they called "extreme cuts" to police numbers. Speaking to the Police Federation annual conference in 2015, and defending police budget cuts, Theresa May said:
